Guidewire for a free standing intervascular device having an integral stop mechanism

Abstract

An elongate guidewire for use with a free, unsecured, intervascular device having an elongate, enclosed, open ended channel for receiving the guidewire. The guidewire includes an elongate, flexible body having an outer dimension which is less than the inner dimension of the channel and an expandable and contractable stop member mounted on the guidewire body for movement between a first contracted position and a second expanded position. The expandable and contractable stop member is dimensioned in the first contracted position to move through said channel and in the second expanded position to preclude movement of said stop member through the channel.

Description

[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 155,090 filed on Sep. 22, 1999.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention relates generally to a guidewire for positioning and removing emboli capture and recovery devices (ECRD) such as small filters in a vein or artery, and more particularly to a guidewire with an integral stop mechanism which, when expanded or extended, permits the guide wire to move freely with respect to the filter while preventing the guidewire from being inadvertently removed from association with the filter and when collapsed or retracted permits the guidewire to be inserted through or removed from the filter.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]In recent years, a number of intervascular medical devices have been designed which are adapted for compression into a small size to facilitate introduction into a body vessel such as an arterial or vascular passageway and which are subsequently expandable into contact with walls...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved guidewire for confidently positioning a free standing filter for expansion within a blood vessel to capture dislodged embolic material.

[0014]Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved guidewire for confidently positioning a free standing filter for use during a procedure to treat blood vessel stenosis or occlusion which does not cause filter movement which results in trauma to the luminal wall during guidewire, balloon and stent exch

Problems solved by technology

Balloon angioplasty or similar transluminal treatments have become common for some blood vessel lesions, but for all such procedures, plaque and emboli dislodged during the procedure are free to flow within the lumen of the vessel and possibly cause substantial injury to a patient.

This procedure requires complete vessel occlusion cutting off all blood flow which imposes severe time constraints on the procedure.

Additionally, the balloons involved in the procedure are affixed to elongate guidewires or small elongate catheters which extend for a substantial distance through blood vessels to the location of the stenosis or occlusion, and it is practically impossible to prevent some back and forth longitudinal motion of these elongate elements within a vessel during a procedure.

Angioplasty is often not a preferred treatment for lesions in the carotid artery because dislodged plaque can enter arterial vessels of the brain causing brain damage or even death.

As indicated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,367 to Kaganov et al., carotid endarterectomy is a surgical procedure used to remove a lesion in the carotid artery, but this procedure also involves substantial risk of dislodged embolic material.

First, since the elongate catheter or guidewire to which the filter is att

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